Casa de Gatos

by WOWOWA

Casa de Gatos by WOWOWA is a fun filled residential architecture and interior design project located in the Melbourne suburb of Fitzroy North.

Casa de Gatos actually translates to house of cats in Spanish. A Mexican themed space for a travel loving couple with four fur babies; two dogs and two cats. Located on a tiny double fronted block in North Fitzroy this tricky renovation to a DIY 70’s modernist renovation of a Victorian worker’s cottage was a visual language fiesta for the team at WOWOWA.

This tight-&-right project lands in a radically conservative place – being both brutal & sympathetic to the existing, to carve out a contemporary work-horse of a home within the confines of a small footprint, while bringing joy and delight to a six-inhabitant party.

Pops of bright orange in the kitchen and aqua tiles with terracotta grout in the bathroom reinforce the spaces liveability and lovability.

The Client Brief called for a playful, flexible and light filled space that championed the projects six inhabitance to allow for a variety of activities and modes all at once.

A key move was to create a small corridor / walk in robe that leads to the bathroom and master bedroom to enhance the feeling of retreat from guests but also operate as an en-suite.

The demolition of the existing bathroom and laundry along the side of the house was another crucial alteration in order to really open up the back facade boundry to boundry on a block so small its these subtle spatial moves that have the biggest impact.

The project’s brilliance was officially recognised in 2017 after it received a Victorian Architecture Award in the small project architecture category.

To view more WOWOWA Inspired Architecture and Interior Design Archives head to their TLP Designer Profile.

Keep up to date with The Local Project’s latest interviews, project overviews, collections releases and more – view our TLP Articles & News.

Explore more design, interior & architecture archives in our TLP Archives Gallery.